Warriors Fanfiction: A Dark Path
by Goldenheart176
Summary: What would happen if Ivypool and Dovewing had another littermate? Warning: Major spoilers; this is an alternate ending to the Power of Three and Omen of the Stars series. Credit for basic story line and characters go to Erin Hunter.
1. Prologue

Caterwauls echoed throughout the trees. Huddled beneath one of them was an apprentice, shivering, though not from cold. No, she was terrified of the howls of pain, the brutish yowls of command that permeated the forest, and the horrible stench of rotting crowfood and the metallic odor of blood.

A dark figure padded through the trees, stopping in front of her. It's icy blue eyes seemed to reach into her very soul, and she visibly flinched as the other cat stopped.

"You must get back to training, apprentice," said the cat.

The apprentice shook her head, stubbornly refusing to go back.

The cat snarled and brought his paw down, getting a gasp to be emitted from the small apprentice. She saw bright red, then darkness.

Meanwhile, two cats gathered together. One had a golden pelt and striking amber eyes. The other had a gray tabby pelt with clouded blue eyes.

"Brother. We must hurry. I have had a vision, one of pain and darkness." said the gray tabby cat.

"So our assumptions were correct?" asked the golden one.

"Yes, Lionblaze. The Dark Forest is rising."


	2. Chapter 1

_Hi, a quick little author's note here! So I'm sorry that the past chapter was so short, I was still figuring things out, but I promise that as things go, it will get better and longer!_

 _-Goldie_

Shadedkit bounced around in the nursery, beaming happily. Today was her apprentice ceremony! Her tiny tail stood straight up as she grinned. Then she spotted Ivykit and Dovekit and smiled even wider. She bounced her way over to them, but screeched to a halt when she heard them talking.

"We'll do everything together!" said Ivykit, smiling happily.

"Yeah," agreed Dovekit enthusiastically.

Shadedkit smiled. "Of course we will!"

The two ignored her. Shadedkit's tail drooped.

" _Why do they ignore me?"_ she thought sadly.

Then Firestar's voice rang out from the highrock, calling all the cats together for the ceremony. Shadedkit's tail went straight back up, and she grinned happily. Racing to the highrock with Ivykit and Dovekit right behind her, she scrambled for a seat. Her smile grew ever wider as Firestar started the ceremony.

"Today we are gathered here to make three kits into apprentices," Firestar's yowl echoed. "Dovekit, Ivykit, and Shadedkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you all to be apprenticed. Dovekit, from this day forward, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Dovepaw. Your mentor will be Lionblaze. I hope he will pass all that he has learned on to you."

Shadedkit watched as the newly named Dovepaw and Lionblaze touched noses, and walked into the crowd. She stared as Ivykit became Ivypaw and was assigned Cinderheart as her mentor.

"Shadedkit, step forward." Came a loud voice from the Highrock. Shadedkit looked up, and walked forward, her legs shaking.

"Shadedkit, from this day forward, until you receive your warriors name, you will be known as Shadedpaw. Your mentor will be Sorreltail. I hope she will pass all that she has learned on to you."

Shadedpaw walked to Sorreltail and touched noses with her new mentor happily. She forced herself to remain calm and _walk_ to the crowd of cats. She was so excited! She heard Firestar dismiss the clan, and immediately turned to Sorreltail and began pestering her with questions.

"When do we hunt? Can I fight? Do I have to clean the elders' bedding? Where will I sleep? When can we explore?"

"Slow down there, all will be answered in due time," Sorreltail answered with an amiable gleam in her eyes. "First we will explore the territory. Tomorrow I will teach you to hunt, and perhaps the day after, I will teach you some basic fighting moves."

"Great! I can't wait!" exclaimed Shadedpaw. Her belly growled loudly, and she grinned sheepishly. "But… um… can we eat first?"

Sorreltail laughed lightly. "Of course we can."

The two walked over to the fresh kill pile, which was very small, due to the excruciatingly hot weather. They picked out a mouse together and shared it, then walked out into the forest. Sorreltail pointed out the lake, which was a shrunken pond.

"I thought it would be bigger," complained Shadedpaw.

"It used to be huge, we would be swimming for our lives right now because of where we are standing if the water was normal sized."

Shadedpaw's eyes grew huge. That was a cavernous description of it!

Sorreltail smiled, "C'mon, let's go see the the WindClan border."

Shadedpaw agreed and followed Sorreltail's lead. Sorreltail led her to a dusty, dry fielded place. They stopped when a strong scent hit them.

"This is the border, Shadedpaw. You must never go over it, even when you are chasing prey."

"Yes, Sorreltail," I yawned out. My legs were aching so much, and I felt like I could drop at any moment.

She smiled again. "Why don't we get back to camp? You've had a long day, and I think we both need some water."

I nodded happily. "Thanks, Sorreltail!" I then followed her again back to camp. When we finally made it, I was panting for lack of water, and my legs were wobbling. Thankfully, there was a water patrol coming back, so I shared a little bit of water moss with Sorreltail.

"Pew! I'm so tired," I exclaimed after I had drunk my fill.

"You can go rest if you would like," replied Sorreltail.

"Thank you!" I trotted off to the apprentice den, where Cinderpaw helped me make a new nest. I expressed my gratitude, then collapsed into the nest, falling into a deep slumber.


	3. Chapter 2

3 Moons later...

Shadedpaw was just barely curling up in her nest when she heard Ivypaw and Dovepaw outside of the apprentice den, arguing. She shifted, flattening her ears as to block out some of the angry hisses and snarls that drifted through the bracken walls. Forcing her eyes shut, she attempted to fall asleep. The growling grew louder, and she heaved herself to her paws, gazing around over at the other apprentices to see if they were annoyed by the racket at all. To her surprise, they were sound asleep.

Padding lightly out of the den, she walked up to the two, opening her mouth to say something, but stopping with her maw half open at the scene before her.

The cats' fur was brushed up threateningly, and their mouths opened in the beginnings of a snarl. Dovepaw was backing away slightly, with Ivypaw advancing. Ivypaw's claws glinted in the sandy floor, gripping it as if she was holding herself back from attacking.

But then her gaze. Full of malice and anger, they held an uncontrolled menace captured within them.

Dovepaw spoke. "Ivypaw, look what it is doing to you, you must stop going there, please!"

"You know what? You don't understand, Dovepaw, OK? You were chosen for the water patrol to get the water back, and you talk to Firestar all the time, as if you are a medicine cat! You have a secret, I know you do, so can't I keep my own?" Ivypaw yowled back.

"That's different, Ivypaw!"

Ivypaw was getting worked up and angry. Her claws kneaded the ground, and her nostrils flared as she tried to gain self control.

Shadedpaw growled and ran to the two cats, trying a soft, "Please stop." It didn't work, so she forced herself in between the two, making them break up. "Just stop, ok? You don't want to wake up the others, do you? Someone will get hurt if this continues!"

The two cats shook themselves, and glaring, padded back inside the den.

Shadedpaw breathed a sigh of relief, then padded after them into the den. Walking over to her nest, she collapsed into it, falling asleep nearly instantly.

Shadedpaw awoke to find herself in a large meadow. She poked the ground and was delighted to find that it was soft and springy, perfect for training. She realized that there was a deep covering of soft moss everywhere. She smiled happily, crouching into her best fighting crouch, then squeaked in terror as she saw a huge, lumbering beast. It made a strange neighing sound, then clopped away. Shadedpaw shook herself. Whatever that was, hopefully it wouldn't hurt her. She got into her fighting stance again. She then leaped, trying a move that had been in her mind since she had been a kit. While she was in the air, she twisted, or a least tried to, to get onto an imaginary enemy's back and confuse them. She failed, miserably. Landing on her shoulder before she could twist midair, pain shot through her shoulder. She gasped in pain.

"That's too bad, it's a good move, but an expert one." A voice came from behind her.

Shadedpaw sprang up, wanting to screech in pain.

"Are you okay? That looked like it hurt, a lot." A tom slunk out of the grass. He was a tabby with ice-blue eyes.

"Y-yeah, I'll be alright." Shadedpaw stared at the tom.

"Are you sure? You look like you hurt yourself pretty badly."

"I'll be fine. Who are you?" Shadedpaw flexed her leg while she waited for an answer.

"My name's Hawkfrost. What's your's?"

"Wait, Hawkfrost? I've heard of you." Shadedpaw growled accusingly.

He flinched. "The past is the past, and I regret everything."

Shadedpaw instantly felt bad.

"Sorry…" She said

He grinned a little bit. "It's alright. Anyways, you need to leap even higher. That move only works when you're pretty far away from your enemy."

Shadedpaw was shocked. Here, in a strange place, with a strange cat, she was learning! And a move she thought she had made up, no less!

Hawkfrost dropped into a fighting crouch, then leaped high into the air. Shadedpaw gasped as he gracefully executed the move perfectly, landing softly with his sharp claws out. He sat, licking his paw, until he said, "Now you try. Make sure to be careful when you spin."

She nodded, still like a deer in headlights from sheer awe. She shook her head to clear the mist. Dropping into a crouch, she took off once again.

It happened so fast, but before she knew it, she was lying among the tall grass. Hawkfrost's blue eyes bored into her, filled with worry.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Somewhat." Shadedpaw answered, her back aching.

She got up, looking down with embarrassment. She gasped as she realized she couldn't see her paws. If she looked closely, she could see a faint outline.

"Looks like you're waking up. See you later, said Hawkfrost.

Shadedpaw opened her mouth to say bye, but suddenly she was back in her nest.

She stretched, wincing. Strange, her body was sore. Maybe it wasn't just a dream.

Walking out of her nest and leaving behind Ivypaw and Dovepaw, who were still sleeping, she picked out a vole, then sat alone.

Ever since the patrol to get the water came back, and it rained, the clans had been getting much better weather. Shadedpaw still wonded why, of all the great warriors of ThunderClan, Dovepaw had been chosen.

Shadedpaw pricked her ears as she heard Sorreltail calling. She sighed and trotted over to begin her training for the day.


End file.
